Hi there,
I have Rhino 6 but unfortunately it doesn’t work anymore on my MacBook, I have to use it on Bootcamp. I saw the topic Rhino 6 wont run on MacOS Tahoe v26!
Will Rhino 9 be released in the next months ? Usually, Rhino versions are released every two years.
I’d be happy to know
Thanks in advance
Best regards,
McNeel does not follow a set schedule for releasing new versions of Rhino, not do they disclose future release dates.
Past release dates and interval since previous release (Windows version when the the Mac version was released separately) are below. I don’t see a definitive trend in either intervals between releases nor month of release.
Rhino 1 - 1998 October
Rhino 2 - 2001 August 34 months
Rhino 3 - 2002 November 15 months
Rhino 4 - 2007 February 51 months
Rhino 5 - 2012 October 67 months
Rhino 6 - 2018 February 65 months
Rhino 7 - 2020 November 33 months
Rhino 8 - 2023 October 35 months
Separate release dates for Mac version:
Rhino 5 for Mac - 2015 June
Rhino 6 for Mac - 2019 July
Based on some public comments from McNeel folks about the state of development of the Rhino 9 WIP I would be surprised if Rhino 9 is not released by the end of 2026. Also I will not be surprised if it is released in a month or so, nor will I be surprised if it is not released until autumn. But I have absolutely no “inside” knowledge.
A discount is usually offered for a month or so after the release date, and upgrades are typically around 60% of the cost of a new license.
We don’t have an exact date but it won’t release in the next 3 months.
As others have said, a fixed release date is never set in advance by McNeel. That being said, the current tendency is to try and release on a more-or-less 3 year cycle. But it is not guaranteed.
My bet prediction is September 2026. 
Thats the thing with Agile project management. It gets things done right, but at the cost of completion uncertainty.
The biggest competitor of Rhino 9 is “Grand theft auto VI”. They both fight neck and neck for the release date.
maybe i really should switch from Rhino to this, V8 ist still giving me headaches. i am not looking forward to the next one much either.. Rhinos best version ever was v5, windows and mac. McNeel took too many wrong turn offs from there, ending in an everlasting maze of half baked features constantly ripping apart stuff that just worked fine before.
in german we have a lovely boxword for it: verschlimmbessert. which means that improving did the exact opposite.
I ran into the same problem and downgraded MacOS. Then claude helped me set up my mac so that it never updates.
It’s a tough situation, because Rhino is used in a broad variety of industries, hence the developers tried to please as many customers as possible. The boom of 3d printing in the recent decade, along with the SubD of Alias and Fusion360 forced the “McNeel” team to develop their native SubD to stay competitive. This is also the answer for the existence of “ShringWrap” and other improvements of mesh tools recently.
However, that also made some NURBS folks feel abandoned, because Rhino 6, Rhino 7 and Rhino 8 didn’t offer any meaningful improvements of the two most important NURBS modeling tools: “Blend surface” and “Match surface”. From what I read on the forum, Rhino 9 WIP also won’t offer improvements there.
Meanwhile, Alias is far superior in the last years, because its developers are focused on improving the NURBS modeling tools and especially “Match surface”, “Blend surface” and point editing. Basically the most essential tools for free-form modeling and product design.
P.S. In Bulgarian language, we also have a similar word like the Deutsch “verschlimmbessert”:
It’s called “превъзцакан”, which is a combination of “превъзходен” (superb) and “прецакан” (screwed).
We also have a saying “Много хубаво не е на хубаво”, which translates as “Too good may become worse” or “Too good is not looking good”. Not to be confused with “Too good to be true”.
Any plans for a developer conference this autumn? (ahead of or to celebrate the launch?)
Was super helpful on the last release.
Hi David,
Rhino World 2026 Barcelona is planned for October 21-23.
We will properly announce it in a few weeks. In the meantime, check last edition website: Rhino World 2023 | McNeel Europe Events
This is our biggest event, every few years, for all McNeel regions, international resellers and industry partners, users, trainers, developers…